By Cathy Hirano

The Japanese are often described by words such as reserved, courteous, and considerate. These attributes are very prominent in this culture. But there are certain occasions when the Japanese let loose. In Kagawa, one of these is fukumochi-nage (good luck rice cake throwing), which is held every January 3rd on top of Mount Unpenji. This 970-meter peak is situated in Kagawa's southwest corner and the temple, Unpenji, at the top, actually falls inside neighboring Tokushima.

A huge crowd converges at the top of the mountain, waiting for the event to start.




Every year the temple invites a celebrity to throw bags of rice cakes into their midst and the crowd waits expectantly.


Once the throwing starts,


the mad scramble to get a bag begins.




Some people use their hats and even baseball gloves.


The elderly and children all dive in, too.


I think the temple must also invite someone who plays baseball fairly seriously because some of those bags flew all the way across to the hill where I was standing behind the crowd. And they hurt, too. Mixed in with the mochi, which bring good luck and health, are bags containing coupons for prizes such as kitchen appliances, TVs and computers. This is probably what makes the competition so fierce.


Lucky winners.

The rice cakes can be roasted over the bonfire – a nice treat after all that hard work.




Unpenji, by the way, is worth a visit at any time of year. If you like snow, winter is a good time. There is skiing and snowboarding at the top and I'm guessing the slope offers a spectacular view.

Snowboarders

The price of the cable car (Japan's longest by the way) is 2,000 yen and if you want to go skiing or snowboarding, it is an extra 2,000 yen (2,000 total for children and 3,000 total for junior and senior high students). It's beautiful at other times of year, too, as are the views from the cable car


And from the top of the mountain looking over into Tokushima.


The temple is the 66th in the 88-temple circuit around Shikoku Island and has a history of 1200 years. Like many of the pilgrims who visit, you can opt not to take the cable car and hike up the mountain instead from either side. It's a paved path but quite steep. In winter, the top can be very snowy


and the hikers I met recommended bringing tie on cleats for safer passage over the slippery snow near the top.

Hiker wearing cleats standing on the right


Some of many lifelike statues lining one of the trails.


Access: The easiest way to get to Unpenji is by car and you will need some help with navigation. It takes about 90 minutes if you use the expressway from Takamatsu. Get off at Onohara IC (about 1 hour) and then take Rte 11 back towards Takamatsu until you come to Rte 8. Turn right (away from the sea) onto Rte 8 and head towards the mountain. The only maps I could find were in Japanese. Here is a link to the map on the Unpenji Snow Park website.
http://www.shikoku-cable.co.jp/snowpark/